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TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS
For a race called the Hollywood Turf Express H. (G3), one would have expected to see more speed than what actually turned up for this six-furlong heat with a purse of $150,000. Indeed, the race could come down to a duel between DELTA STORM (Storm Boot), who breaks from the rail, and CALIFORNIA FLAG (Avenue of Flags), who breaks widest in post 10. Still, we tend to favor closers a bit more in races like this, and there's a possibility the course might end up favoring that style as it dries out from absorbing midweek rain. JOE BRAVO (Brz) (Vettori), the horse not the jockey, established himself as one of Brazil's top milers last winter. After a pair of modest efforts at Belmont and Santa Anita in his first two starts in this country, Joe Bravo cut back to three-quarters for his Hollywood Park debut and finished quite well to finish a half-length second against allowance/optional claiming foes. With a quick pace assured, all Joe Bravo might need is a clear path to make his presence felt in the latter stages of this race. California Flag upset the Morvich H. (G3) over Santa Anita's downhill course two back, then failed to replicate that effort when a fading 10th in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. He'll be tough to catch and was a course-and-distance winner here back in July. As one of the few horses with established class, he merits plenty of respect. HURRY UP AUSTIN (Lake Austin) earned an impressive 107 BRIS Late Pace figure for his victory in the Kangaroo Court S. two back, where he edged Delta Storm by three parts of a length. He fared poorly in his subsequent start on Pro-Ride, but that will likely cause his price to drift up a bit and he's turned in three swift works in recent weeks. Delta Storm is not exactly a need-the-lead type, but may have no choice but to go lest California Flag get an uncontested advantage. He is generally capable whichever strategy he employs, though he tends to have more success in winning on the front end in his turf attempts. ONE UNION (Dixie Union) has had mixed success in turf sprints, and might actually prefer a mile, but he's gotten enough minor checks in some of the better races in this division to warrant inclusion on exotics tickets. We would like TOWZEE (NZ) (Towkay) more if he had far fewer layoff lines as he's a fairly capable grass dasher on his best day. He hasn't raced since early July, however, and we wonder if the present layoff, which has been a bit longer than the norm, will cause him to need this one for conditioning purposes. Still, we'll continue to monitor his odds, which should be fat. The turf sprint record of CARRILERO (Arg) (Royal Academy) is a mixed bag, but he probably had an excuse when ninth of 11 in the San Simeon H. (G3) two back as he hit the sidelines for a lengthy spell afterwards. He'll be one of several to watch for late. MAJESTIC DIAMOND (NZ) (Diamond Express) won his U.S. debut at odds of 32-1 here earlier this month, but was more of an allowance quality runner in his native New Zealand, and the Kiwis typically need to be top class to stay with graded stakes company in this country. UNUSUAL SUSPECT (Unusual Heat) has not finished better than third in his last 10 attempts and just doesn't seem to be of this class any more. RACKETEER (Awesome Again) makes a rare turf appearance following mostly longer races on synthetic surfaces. A victory would be more than a mild surprise.
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